Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

With Jeff Backus retiring, what’s the state of the Lions offensive line? And does this mean they need to take an offensive lineman at No. 5 overall or in later rounds?

The national pundits chimed in with their admiration for a long, workmanlike career. Fellow Lions took to Twitter to thank Backus for his service and acknowledge his durability. And the mock draft gurus were sent scrambling to assess just what it meant that the Lions have now lost 3/5ths of their offensive line from 2012 and now become a candidate to draft a tackle with the fifth overall pick next month.

Here’s where the ripple was not felt -- Allen Park.

The Lions are certainly sorry to see Backus go. Fans can rip him all they want. But the fact is that Backus was a good, solid tackle who did his job without incident for 12 years. His biggest transgressions were that he allowed Julius Peppers to sack Matthew Stafford in the opening game of the 2010 season and the fact that he just wasn’t as good as former Michigan teammate Steve Hutchinson, who was taken one spot ahead of him in 2001. Other than that, Backus was everything you’d want from a first-round pick. He came in. He started. He never got hurt. He played through pain. And he never complained.

He wasn’t a star. I’m not trying to make him out to be more than he was. But when you’re trying to remake a team and fill in some massive holes, you’d like to be able to count on certain guys playing certain positions. Backus did that. And now he must be replaced.

But don’t think for a minute that this comes as some shocking surprise for GM Martin Mayhew or coach Jim Schwartz. It’s not as if Backus waited until the Lions had doled out money to Reggie Bush, Glover Quin and Jason Jones before letting the Lions know his plans. This is not Barry Sanders retiring on the eve of training camp in order to send a message to the franchise. I’m certain that the Lions had a strong indication that Backus wasn’t coming back if he hadn’t in fact told them already. The fact that he quietly snuck out the day after the Lions made a boom in free agency only speaks to his normal, reserved nature.

So what now for the Lions? What now for the No. 5 pick?

Nothing changes. And for Mayhew and Schwartz, it’s business as usual. Think about it. Prior to yesterday, most of the mock drafts had the Lions taking either a defensive end or cornerback Dee Milliner from Alabama. It bears mentioning that those are simply mock drafts. None of us have any idea what it says inside Mayhew’s office on the big board. Remember that very few people had offensive lineman Riley Reiff heading to Detroit last April. So what the draft experts think and what Mayhew thinks may be two totally different things. (And no, that’s not meant to be a backhanded compliment.) All the Backus retirement does is virtually guarantee that the Lions will do what they’ve always done in the drafts. They’ll take the “best player available."

I’ll pause for a minute to allow you to collect yourself. Trust me. I deplored that strategy last year. And I’m not crazy about the thought of Mayhew doing it again this year. But think about it. The best players at the top of the draft board fall into three distinct categories - offensive tackles, defensive linemen and Milliner. All three positions fit the Lions' draft needs. So they can easily follow their philosophy and draft the best player available and nobody would accuse them of reaching.

The Backus retirement also muddies the Lions' draft focus a bit for other teams trying to read what the Lions will do. What if Luke Joeckel or Eric Fisher fell to No. 5? The Lions would be silly to pass on one of them. But at the same time, perhaps there is someone who’d be willing to trade up now fearing that the Lions would need a tackle and, thus, draft a tackle. Again, it would be best for the Lions if Backus stayed. But it certainly brings an added level of intrigue to what might happen on the first night of the draft.

Wednesday was a big day in Lions history. They signed four players (including re-signing CB Chris Houston). All are projected to start. Good thing. Because after Backus’ retirement Thursday, they have another starting position open. The offensive line is undergoing a massive overhaul, which is a good thing. It’s just coming more swiftly and severely than we imagined it would.

Perhaps the Lions will be able to repeat history from 2001 when they drafted a tackle who started every game but one for twelve straight seasons. It sounds odd to say given Backus’ sometimes up and down career, but the Lions would be lucky to find a player like that.